A Hop, NO Skip and Many Mishaps to a Disney Dream

[jenseib]

More video…and remember, I am NOT very good with video; I usually make myself motion sick when I watch it. LOL!

[jenseib]

There’s the baby!

I think this is the baby as well…isn’t she tiny. LOL! She was born in Oct, so that would make her about almost 6 months at the time.

[jenseib]

I have done some research on some of the whales since our trip. I am amazed at how many are still “wild”, meaning they were actually captured years ago, many from Iceland area. The Mom of the baby was one of the captures and I think she is 34 years old. I think she has had 7 calves. The father of that baby is the one who killed the trainer, I think his name is Tillikum, and he was also captured and it sounds like at times he was given only a small pen to stay in (not with Sea World, but another park) I believe he has fathered something like 10 calves. Sea World FL also had one that could only interact with Tillikum as she was very aggressive (and I believe she was born in captivity). She has attacked other whales and even her own calves. It was kind of funny, but they say she is now on birth control so she can’t have any more since she has tried to injure all her children. She has since then gotten pregnant one more time and died last summer with a stillborn birth complications.

Tillikum is the biggest whale in the entire world in captivity. I believe he is 12000 pounds. (pictures of him later)

And then we had an unscheduled guest appearance. LOL!

[jenseib]

Spinning Shamu! He didn’t light up like the spinning Mickey’s do though. LOL!

[jenseib]

The bad boy came out next. Now they didn’t say it was Tillikum, but we ‘knew’. All the trainers got off the stage and platforms and came to the ground in front of the tank. This guy was HUGE and he knows how to throw some water, as you can see in this video.

You can hear a little of Claire squealing in the background. I think she was actually saying something about wishing she was in the rows that were getting wet…I on the other hand am very thankful we were up high!

Like I said before, I have done some research on the whales since I have been home. It’s kind of depressing. I can’t believe the number of whales that are performing that were actually captured. I guess I assumed all were born in captivity now. (they no longer can actually go out and capture them anymore) And it’s really sad, as many whales they first captured lived a very short time. Some only days. And they would actually kill other whales while trying to get to the babies they wanted to capture. And I didn’t know this, but only 1 whale was actually named Shamu. And then one was called Baby Shamu, but I don’t think it lived very long.

Many whales that are born in captivity don’t live very long lives either. For a long time they could get them born, but they would die with in a few days. Now they do live longer, but still a lot seem to dye much earlier than they do in the wild.

And then I researched good Ol “Free Willy” and that is a very depressing story. Basically the movie story of him being in a seedy marine park with a tank too small was the truth. He was very sick and not till after the movie was he taken to another park and was able to gain weight and get some of his health back. But as you may or may not know, he was set free, near Iceland, but didn’t want to be free and swam to Norway and tried to interact with Humans. He ended up dying.

OK, enough depressing whale stories. It was nice to see the show, and I will not be doing depressing research again after watching something like this.

One more of the big guy!

[jenseib]

The show ended and we decided to just sit back and let the place empty a bit before trying to fight our way out. But that didn’t last long. Claire had to go potty….NOW! So I told Mom and Dad that we would go and find them later. We fought our way down, but I wasn’t familiar with the area. From the map I had, I thought I knew where the bathrooms were, but I actually went the wrong way and couldn’t get to them once I got outside.

I headed towards the Happy Harbor and figured there had to be some there. And there was! Disaster was averted and Claire felt much better.

Now for the task of finding Mom and Dad. We hung around the area and took some pictures while waiting. I believe Mom called me and they eventually made their way to us.

Mom and Dad joined us. I think it was about 6:30 now and the park closed at 7 for a private party. Dad was on a mission to leave NOW. I told him we would walk the long way back and do some browsing and shopping. That got a bit of grumbling, but I had the car keys. LOL!

We stopped off and made a few purchases. I got Claire a keychain that she picked out that looked liked a flipflop. Mom bought Claire some bracelets to give to the girls in her class. I think they were 2 for $5 and we got 10. We should’ve gotten an extra packet though. Claire wore hers that day and then put it back in the bag. When we got home, I sent all of them to school with her. There are 9 other girls in her class. Well Claire gave them all out and then one to the teacher, which I told her NOT to do. But it was my fault as well, as I didn’t specifically tell her that her bracelet was still in the bag either. One girl in her class lost hers right away, so the teacher gave hers to her. Claire came home and told me about it, and then I had to break the news to her that her bracelet was in the bag as well, and now she didn’t have one. Of course that produced a lot of tears. Actually a bit of a tantrum. I told her next time we go we would get her one again. I think that is one of the reasons she keeps asking to go back to Sea World.

My goal was to find a small Shamu plush for Claire, but so far all we could find were ones that talked (or made some sort of noise), ranging in the $25 price. That was more than I wanted to spend. So we kept looking.

Mom did a bit more stopping than us in the shops (Dad was thrilled, LOL) and I took a few pictures while we waited on her.

[jenseib]

I saw this guy, and he looked so cute, so I took a few pictures. We had seen squirrels all day, and I kept joking that it was the same one following us around because we looked like such a fun family. Dad thought it was dumb to be taking a picture of a squirrel and as soon as he said it, another lady came up and took one too.

We found a rather big store closer to the entrance to the park and that had a small Shamu. Claire gave it lots of love and was happy. I believe Mom started going crazy here too. I think she bought some stuff for Paige, maybe a t-shirt and shorts. We left the store with a little less money in our pockets, but happy. I was sad that we had to leave already; I really missed a lot of the park. There were parts I had said were must dos that I never even saw, let alone have the option to do. There is always next time!

A few departing shots!

[jenseib]

We made the walk out to the van and got situated. We decided to head back to Residence Inn and ask where a Best Buy was near by. I don’t like Best Buy at all. I think they are usually over priced, and I really don’t like that they are always pushing warranties on you. I actually bought my first computer from them many years ago and got the warranty, but when I brought it in to be fixed, everything they said “would” be covered was not. Since that time, I actually pretty much boycott them if possible. I do know they have gotten better over the years though. I chose Best Buy though, because I knew they would be the best chance of finding a charger for my battery. I didn’t want to jump from store to store looking and hoping to find one. Remember, I wanted it to be an early night. HA!

We took off out of the parking lot and I went to turn left. Dad swore I was going the wrong way. I told him no, our Hotel is just over that way, you can almost see it, we’re so close. Nope, I was wrong and he was right….in his mind. I went with my way though. And I was right. We were just around the corner basically and in no time we pulled up to the front of Residence Inn. I jumped out and went up to the desk and asked for a near by Best Buy and if there were places to eat near there as well. The guy gave me directions, and also named a few restaurants in the area. One he named was the Cheesecake Factory. I had never been there, but I have read some reviews of it, and it sounded great….just what I would like. I hopped back in with the family and suggested that to them. Mom said fine, but Dad said he ate at one in Chicago once and wasn’t thrilled with their version of cheesecake. I guess we kind of ignored him. LOL!

We started out of RI and quickly realized that there wasn’t an on ramp to the expressway for the direction we wanted to go….something the guy at the desk didn’t mention. Oh well, we just kind of followed the highway till we found one. Soon we found the Mall (which I am having a blank on the name right now). I parked and ran into Best Buy while the family sat out and waited. I think Claire wanted to come along, but it would’ve just slowed me up.

I asked a worker where I could find a battery charger for the battery of a Canon 50D. He helped me look and we found one….the VERY last one they had……and the price…..drum roll please!................ $70.00….yep, it was that much. I asked if a battery came with it too, and he said no, but it was a double charger and could do 2 batteries at a time. It also had attachments to do several kinds of batteries, none of which I own. And it also could be charged in your car as well. So to put it lightly, it came with a bunch of cords and attachments……...which for me means more things to lose. LOL!

I sucked it up and paid for it, of course with tax it came up even higher. And of course, as luck would have it, I had to wait in line forever. There were 2 registers open and both had troubled customers. One was doing a bit of arguing about something, while the other was having some sort of problems with how she wanted to pay, so it was rang up, then canceled out, rang up partially then she used the wrong credit card, canceled again, etc.

Finally I was checked out and I ran back to the car, with a grumbling Claire waiting for me.

I think Mom about fainted when I told her how much it was. I think she felt bad, but there was nothing I could do, I needed it and I wasn’t sure my other had been found.

We drove the quick drive over to the mall and I dropped the family off at the Cheesecake Factory. I went in search of a parking spot. This Mall was hopping and open spaces were far and few between. I did finally find one though. And I seem to notice a pattern throughout Florida. The parking spaces seem much narrower than I am used to in Ohio. I squeezed her in a spot with very little room to actually open doors. I then opened up that million dollar charger and found the correct attachments and started charging the battery I had with me.

I was happy now that I had one battery on its way to being charged for the next day. I grabbed my point and shoot and went in the restaurant to find the family had already been seated.

We browsed the menu….which was more like a book. I swear, it was like 20 pages. So hard to make a choice, but we knew Cheesecake was going to be ordered for sure. We figured we would take that back to the hotel with us. Yes, we were looking at Dessert first….Nothing wrong with that!

I decided on pizza. Mom wanted to share, and that was fine by me. She also wanted quesadillas, so we decided to share those as well. Note to self…that was way too much food!

I think Dad had a steak. I didn’t take a picture of his. I have to admit again, that the lack of sleep was catching up to me, and I would forget to take pictures sometimes, or the camera was becoming heavy! LOL!

The bread was REALLY good here. Claire was going to town on it, and would yell at us if we went for some. We asked for more and some went back to the room with us as well.

Our quesadilla after we had already started to attack it.

It was good. Not the best one I have ever had, but still very good.

Claire went with the corndog and fries. She loves corndogs (after all it is in the hotdog family) and really enjoyed this meal.

Our pizza arrived and we attacked it before I even thought to take a picture. It was very good.

[jenseib]

We boxed up half of the quesadilla and the pizza and received our cheesecakes to go. We were stuffed, and I couldn’t even imagine how we were going to eat those wonderful desserts. And sadly I never took a picture of them. I got Reeses Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Cheesecake and it was fabulous and rich. Dad got UltimateRed Velvet CakeCheesecake™ and Claire got strawberry cheesecake. All were great, though it took us 2 days to eat them!

I don’t know what this cost. Mom paid for us all. I offered to pay the tip, but she told me not to worry about it since I had just spent some money (much more than I wanted to) at Best Buy. I was very happy to try this place. I wish there was one close to me. I will definitely try to find one in my travels in the future.

After we were super stuffed (and Dad actually loved his food), we rolled out and back to Residence Inn.

Well coming back I missed the exit for Sea World because it was NOT the exit for our hotel. And sure enough there wasn’t an exit for our hotel, so I got off at the next one. My Dad was having a fit. Why did I miss the one, we should’ve known from when we left there wasn’t an exit from that direction, etc. I asked him if he had to be anywhere at a certain time, and he said no, then I said, why care about it. We will just take a nice leisurely drive through Orlando and see the sights and in the mean time work our way back to the hotel. LOL!

And we did make it!

I had kind of hoped to take Claire for a quick swim before going to bed, but it was pretty late at this point, (I think around 9:30 or 10) so we skipped that idea.

We got her bathed and a good hair wash and got her into bed. But she was FULL of energy. I couldn’t believe it. The room we got here had a bedroom with 2 queen beds and then the living room/kitchen area. (I did eventually take pictures of it)

My Dad was watching TV and my Mom and I went down to start some laundry. I couldn’t believe she was still hopping around in the room when I came back up, so we shut the door on her and told her she had to sleep and she went out then.

The laundry was washed and Mom and I each threw our loads into the dryer. It was taking forever to dry. I had just had it for the day. Again, I had very little sleep the night before, so I was running out of gas fast. I told Mom that I was just going to leave my laundry in the dryer till morning. There were many dryers and I highly doubted someone would need the one I was using in the middle of the night.

I hit the sack and went out fast. I think it was around midnight then. The beds were very comfy here as well and I slept like a rock!

And that is the end of Day 6. Only one more full day left……Boo Hoo!

[jenseib]

April 5, Tuesday ~ Day 7

Sadly, this was our last full day. I got up bright and early and showered. I took a few shots of our room, which was quite messy at the time.

I then went for breakfast. Like the other Residence Inn, this one had a buffet with a good selection as well.

My original plan was to be at Epcot at opening, but that plan went out the door, since I had to wait till 9 to talk to the lost and found for Pop. Mom and Dad did not want to go for Rope Drop, nor did they want to stay till closing. I let them know that I was going as soon as I could, they could come or get a shuttle or taxi. Mom said something about just leaving early and I could take them back. Again, I knew how precious our time was going to be and I told her they could take the Van back and then come back and pick us up later, or take a taxi back.

But at this point in time, my whole family just kept sleeping, which drove me nuts.

I wandered around outside after breakfast and called Skip, who didn’t answer. So I called Paige and told her about the trip so far. As we were finishing up I got a call waiting beep and answered it. It was about 8:50 now.

And it was a CM from Pop Century, I think her name was Lisa. She was really nice and let me know right away that the charger and battery had indeed been found and turned in. I am so happy, but I do think they need a better system for this.

She told me I could go over to Pop and pick it up (she was sending it back over there.) If I had been staying on property, they would’ve sent it to my resort.

She also said, “I notice you are from Swanton, OH”, and I said yes, and she let me know she was from there too. She told me the road she used to live on and I was familiar with the area. Small World.

I went back to the room and told the family that I was going over to Pop to get the charger and if they weren’t going to get up…Claire included….then I was heading over to Epcot and they could call me when they got up.

Mom let me know she had finished up the laundry last night and brought it all back up. (she was up till 2 AM!)

Dad just kept saying it was going to rain and my reply was, I don’t care, I’ll wear a poncho. I wasn’t going to sit in a hotel room all day because of rain.

They decided they would get up and ready and then eat breakfast and I could come back and pick them all up after I got the charger.

I left and the skies did look a bit awful. Skip called me and he also mentioned the rain….I guess I may melt if the rain touches me?

Of course the minute I hang up with him, the sky opens up and just starts pouring. As I pulled into Pops parking lot it did lesson up a bit.

[jenseib]

And of course, the ponchos were left in my bag back at the hotel. I scrambled around the back of the van and found Moms coat that had a hood.

I went to the desk and asked about the charger, she made a call and went to the back to fetch it. I talked to 2 other CM’s while waiting, they both said the rain should be done by noon. Yay! That was a relief!

The CM came back with a bag of my goodies and I signed for them and took a quick look around the gift shop.

I headed back and the family was just about ready when I returned. We hit the road to Epcot and arrived with it just lightly raining. I think it was about 10:30 by now. Claire and I were going in, but Mom and Dad were going to wait for the rain to slow up more.

Now here is where things went downhill, but I didn’t really know it at the time.

I got ponchos on Claire and myself, and Claire is evidently a poncho snob. My cheap dollar store ponchos weren’t cutting it for her. She said they were ugly and complained about wearing it. I told her to wear it till we got in the park and then I would fix it so it could cover the stroller. At the same time my Dad was asking….over and over…if I had my phone. YES, I had the dang phone! I finally got us situated and made our way to the tram and hopped aboard. I was amazed at how close we had actually parked to the entrance. It has been many years since I have actually parked at Epcot ( and then my ex had a handicap parking permit, so we parked very close) and I wasn’t familiar with the whole parking lot thing. We finally got in and we stopped for some photopass pictures.

[jenseib]

And a few of mine.

[jenseib]

We looked for the lockers and I got one for my bag. Claire had decided to bring along her Mary Poppins dress again, in hopes of seeing her again. So we shoved all that gear in the locker. I then bought her a Disney poncho, as that one was “OK” for her to wear.

The plan then was to head over to Soarin and get Fast Passes. I took a few pictures on the way over.

1 was OK, I go smiles!

I guess the 2nd one was pushing it a little. LOL!

Again, I think I was pushing it with a 2nd picture.

We got FP’s for later that afternoon, but I didn’t write down the time, that I can see at this point. I am think it was like 4:20?

[jenseib]

Claire was a little hungry and since I wasn’t sure how much she actually ate for breakfast, we stopped off for a pretzel.

And I think this shot was from the pretzel cart area.

It was now when I realized that I did NOT have my phone in my pocket!!!!! I was pretty sure I had it when I left, after all Dad kept asking me, but I was slightly stressed too, so maybe I didn’t. I decided we should go back to the van and see if I did indeed leave it out there. After all, if I didn’t find it, how would I get in contact with Mom and Dad later on?

[CC Help Jenn]

I'm everything disney! Can't get enough of it. I mean for a 13 year old its probably sad but I LOVE WDW in Florida! Trying to persuade my parents to let my family go on the Dream or to Orlando again soon! Thank-You so much for the review/blog!!!

 

 

Thanks so much for reading along. Use those puppy dog eyes on your parents! ;)

 

Those puppy dog eyes work - ask my children ! We are going to WDW in Nov of this year and on the Fantasy Sept 2012 all thanks to puppy dog eyes :)

 

Love your report - have spent the past few days reading up on it !!! Thanks for all of your hard work in photo editing and writing !

[Host Mick]

April 5, Tuesday ~ Day 7

 

 

My original plan was to be at Epcot at opening, but that plan went out the door, since I had to wait till 9 to talk to the lost and found for Pop. Mom and Dad did not want to go for Rope Drop, nor did they want to stay till closing. I let them know that I was going as soon as I could, they could come or get a shuttle or taxi. Mom said something about just leaving early and I could take them back. Again, I knew how precious our time was going to be and I told her they could take the Van back and then come back and pick us up later, or take a taxi back.

But at this point in time, my whole family just kept sleeping, which drove me nuts.

 

I like your style.

My family reluctantly trudges along behind me when I go to the parks. They want to sleep and miss that "golden hour" when the parks first open. No way, meet me there I tell them.

 

First the charger now the phone! Oh Noes! I'm not going to be able to sleep again. ;)

[TriciaEMTB]

Tilly is back in the show, yes. He mainly splashes, amd the trainers are back in the water just not with Tilly. That trainer is not the first person he killed.

[jenseib]

Those puppy dog eyes work - ask my children ! We are going to WDW in Nov of this year and on the Fantasy Sept 2012 all thanks to puppy dog eyes :)

 

Love your report - have spent the past few days reading up on it !!! Thanks for all of your hard work in photo editing and writing !

 

Puppy dog eyes can work! ;) I am trying to get this done so I can start going through my most recents trips pictures. It seems like life wants to get in the way though for some reason.

 

I like your style.

My family reluctantly trudges along behind me when I go to the parks. They want to sleep and miss that "golden hour" when the parks first open. No way, meet me there I tell them.

 

First the charger now the phone! Oh Noes! I'm not going to be able to sleep again. ;)

 

You can sleep when your dead, lets get going now! :p

 

 

Tilly is back in the show, yes. He mainly splashes, amd the trainers are back in the water just not with Tilly. That trainer is not the first person he killed.

 

I didn't realoze the trainers were back in the water in the new show. Thats good to hear. I think a lot of the whales do like the interaction, but some don't.

Yes, Tillikum has been involved in 3 deaths, if I remember right. One was killed by Tilly and 2 other whales, the 2nd they don't beleive he actually killed, but more that some dumb guy hid after park hours and then went to swim with him and they "think" he died from hypothermia. And the Tilly kind of played or explored him when he realized the body was in the tank. Of course we'll never know for sure.

[jenseib]

Claire and I headed off to the front to see if my phone was left in the van. Now this phone was only about 7 months old and the nicest phone I have ever owned as well, a droid, so I worried even more about finding it. I have insurance, but I have no clue what it covers, plus all the lost info on it.

As we got near to Spaceship Earth, who should I see coming out of the bathroom….my Dad! I hollered over to him, then made a few rude comments about whether or not the launch sequence had started and then asked if he saw my phone in the van. He didn’t and of course gave me a bit of a hard time (jokingly) about me saying I had it when I left. Mom came out of the bathroom and I asked her as well. No, she didn’t remember seeing it either. I said I was going to go check, but she told me to just take her phone since Dad had his and we could communicate that way. Now this was stupid on my part. I just was too lazy to walk back out to the van to go look and I just forgot about it for the rest of the day. Also, just because I had her phone, didn’t mean I knew how to use it. LOL! I had a heck of a time trying to figure that bugger out.

We decided that since we were together we would ride Spaceship Earth.

The line was kind of long, but it moved quickly.

And then I had them pose for a family shot. I took 2 and neither turned out too great.

Soon we were on our journey. I rode with Dad. I took a lot of pictures, some turned out OK, while others not so much.

[jenseib]

[jenseib]

I got a few pictures of Dad and I. We were laughing at how dumb we (mostly me because I purposely made that face) looked.

[jenseib]

I love this one! LOL

I guess I never took one of Mom and Claire. But I did get a pic of Dad and I on the big screen as well.

I believe we separated after this. I reminded them the time and where to meet for lunch and off Claire and I went.

[jenseib]

I believe we headed over to the Seas next.

Tronorail sighting!

On to the Seas!

[jenseib]

The line was pretty much walk through. I tried to grab a few shots, but I was moving to fast to get anything good.

We soon had our journey on the clamobile and exited. We also made a stop to talk with Crush. Claire was disappointed that she wasn’t picked to talk to Crush this time around. (she was last trip and it turned on me and I had to talk to him as well) I let her know that other kids get to have a turn as well and she seemed fine with that.

We totally skipped the picture with Bruce. I guess I forgot.

We did stop and take a few outdoor pictures though.

….But first a trip down memory lane……

Claire in 2007

2008

[jenseib]

2009

And on to 2011!

We decided to head over to Figment next. Claire had made a comment that last trip we totally missed it, so I wanted to be sure she did ride it this time.

I tried to get the butterfly topiary on the way over.